The current Standard format is a fluctuating chaotic circle. The first weeks of PTQs brought BW Tokens to the top tier, bringing a new way to persecute Faeries while having a giant wallop to overpower the midrange and control decks. Meanwhile, other midrange decks incorporated Anathemancer to have a potent endgame that can steal games by Cascading into multiples of the Lava Axe Grey Ogre.
Regionals brought us that wacky Fog deck out of nowhere that completely dominates Tokens, along with the creature-filled midrange decks that have engulfed our format. The absence of a true aggro deck positioned the Fog deck quite well, until everyone figured out that the deck can’t function if you have suitable answers to Jace, Howling Mine, and Font of Mythos; a way to kill them that doesn’t involve damage; or a way to cripple them early to neuter their mid/late game. Basically, it’s the type of deck that works for one or two tournaments until people wise up. Faeries remained out of the loop for Regionals, while the midrange Jund decks, GW Tokens/Little Kid, 5CB, Elves, and Bant continued to be played by their supporters.
Those midrange decks flooded the PTQ scene drowning out the Fog deck which opened up a unique spot for a well organized combo deck to step up to the plate.
Then, we had Grand Prix: Barcelona…
Enter a 40-land Cascade Swans deck at GP: Barcelona that plays an extremely fluid and lethal combo game 1 while having many different sideboarding options (that include boarding out lands) to bring in an unexpected Countryside Crusher offense along with ways to assure the combo happens. This has been the biggest advancement Cascade has seen in terms of raw utility. However, it’s only a precursor to the crazy things that will happen when the mechanic explodes come Extended time.
Load up on those Bloodbraids now while they’re cheap, as it’s the safest Magic stock to buy right now with an almost guaranteed return on investment.
Then Grand Prix: Tacoma dropped, and the well-tuned Faeries lists preyed on the narrow combo deck, reinvigorating its supporters, giving them confidence in the pint sized pansies while raising 20 Mistbind Cliques into the Top 8. This made Faeries Enemy Number One once more, which swept the legs out from under Cascade Swans as quick as it came. The midrange decks weren’t equipped to deal with Faeries for this tournament, which in my opinion gave the fearless Fae a false sense of security in the newly reborn Standard. Yet it cemented it as a deck that you didn’t want to forget when preparing for the next tournament in which you played.
StarCityGames.com $5000 Standard Open in Atlanta showed us that Faeries could be defeated, as a variety of decks rose out of the murky swiss. Elves, 5CB, Bant, Jund, and BW Tokens appearances showed that the format was much deeper than the five-Faerie Top 8 that Tacoma suggested, and midrange decks were filling the seats once again after making the proper adjustments.
I call all of these decks midrange because the only true aggro deck I’ve seen is the mono-Red deck, or the aggro Jund decks that have a variety of quick and lethal draws. Bant, Tokens, BG Elves, Jund with Bituminous Blast, they all have late game plans and decisively reactive cards relative to what’s being played, whereas the Red decks with Figure of Destiny, Flame Javelin, and Hellspark Elemental are “balls to the wall, hope you don’t have a Forge-Tender or I lose.” Given how open manabases can be, how powerful all the cards we have to play with are, and the three-drop glut that every deck seems to struggle with, I don’t see how a true aggro deck could ever survive in this format. It would need something radical, like reprinting something crazy like Ball Lightning or Lightning Bolt… but we all know something that nutty couldn’t happen.
This puts Standard Magic in a very healthy position, since everyone is inevitably having to play actual Magic that involves skill rather than playing the rock/paper/scissors matchup guessing game. There are exceptions, but any deck can beat any deck, and the better pilots with the better plans have much better odds to place higher. Everyone feels their midrange deck of choice is the best because each strategy has good options to combat the other midrange, and the few combo/control decks running around can be almost entirely answered with an early clock backed up by Thought Hemorrhage.
The midrange environment continued strong at StarCityGames.com $5000 Standard Open in Boston last weekend, showing a resurgence in BW Tokens, putting two in the Top 8 and a third in the Top 16. A pair of Faeries decks rolled into the 8, as well with a copy of its bye matchup (Cascade Swans). GW Tokens/Overrun has emerged as one of the premier strategies, being one of the most consistently resilient to the metagame flux these past couple of months, having a variety of techy cards to provide answers to its problems while having a solid aggressive game plan that is just as, if not more, explosive than its Orzhov counterpart.
So now we have a sea of midrange decks and several decks that go in and out of popularity depending on what did well the week prior. The shifting decks include Faeries, Swans, Fog, Reveillark, Five-Color Control, and Mono-Red aggro. Those seem to be the decks you either see in large or scattered numbers, and their output varies from dominating a tournament to picking the wrong deck and scrubbing out early.
This is a very important trend for those who still get to battle in PTQs where they can put damage on the stack. You have got to be prepared to face the sea of midrange which includes the usual suspects of Bant, Five-Color Blood, GW Tokens, BW Tokens, the many faces of Jund, GB Elves, RB Aggro, all the flavors of Kithkin, and Doran.
GP: Sao Paulo was a good example, with the entire Top 8 comprised of midrange decks aside a lone UW Reveillark attempting to hold it down for the control decks. The 5CB deck was also extremely controlling, excluding Ram-Gangs of old to embrace an 8-Command base supported by a full set of Enlisted Wurm and a Rain of Tears/Fulminator Mage plan out of the board.
I’ve tested and pitched very similar Enlisted-centric lists. However, on the draw I found it extremely hard to post a comeback, even with lots of lifegain and Wrath effects. Playing on your heels just isn’t a very comfortable feeling and leaves you open to blowouts. Diego Crucius played a full set of Wrath of God, 3 Volcanic Fallout, and Kitchen Finks as the only other three-drop to Cascade into. Captured Sunlight supports the “make the game last so I can Enlisted plus Command their ass,” but this deck is really lacking the early game gas that this format has become so enveloped around. Not to mention how awkward it is when you don’t draw any three-drops and have to wait until turn 4 to start casting spells.
From the tournament results so far, there is one shining fact that gives all decks hope: anything can win right now. Absolutely positively any deck under the sun can win, if it is built intelligently and with suitable plans of attack and defense. This is the prime time for deckbuilders to show their worth. We’ve already had a few interesting decks arise from ashes where there was nothing. Sanity Grinding, Fog, decks utilizing Cascade like Chapin’s 5CB, Diego’s Enlisted Command brew, Jund, and most notably the Cascade Swans that surprised and captured the Spanish GP are the headliners for the new innovative decks of this format. I really think we can do better. There are just so many good cards to play right now that doing the most streamlined thing might not be the best approach, due to how predictable all the decks seeing play currently are.
Take a look at Elf combo, Elementals, and LD Cascade for unique examples of fringe decks that can rise to the occasion to swim in the tier waterfalls.
So here’s the Standard checklist you have to perform whenever designing a new deck, or if you’re looking to adjust yours to the age of midrange.
– We want to have a plan opposite Anathemancer, which entails either playing a reasonable amount of basic lands, having a curve that stops at 3-4, or having some way to neutralize it entirely (Thought Hemorrhage, Runed Halo, Meddling Mage, copious amounts of life gain).
– We have to have a good proactive plan to battle Faeries, the control decks, and the combo decks which represent the shifting scope of Standard, as these decks go in and out of favor depending on the previous week’s winners. We can use Thought Hemorrhage, Thoughtseize, extra countermagic, and quicker threats, while focusing on ways to be more resilient to Wrath effects.
– Have a multipurpose threat to the various Token strategies like Jund Charm, Volcanic Fallout, Zealous Persecution, or Wrath of God.
– Look to find a way to size up or speed up in the midrange mirrors. Both are viable answers to catch the opponent off guard. However, most choose the size up option, exercising cards like Chameleon Colossus, Loxodon Warhammer, Broodmate Dragon, Primal Command, Cloudgoat Ranger, Puppeteer Clique, and Siege-Gang Commander. The speed up option hasn’t seen much attention lately, but is something I’ve been trying to make work since the majority of midrange decks leave themselves vulnerable to a quick well-executed offense after sideboarding. Which might mean sideboarding into the LD route, like Diego did in Sao Paulo, is the best way to attack them.
– Given how much everyone is dabbling with different colors, it’s important to maximize your manabase and to keep trying out different arrangements until it’s smooth peanut butter like Reece’s.
– Have a plan opposite the true aggro decks. The aggro decks are really Bant, GW Overrun, Mono Red, and Jund with Hackblade. They are all easily defeated by having the same tools that work against the Token decks. The Overrun deck is harder to stay greedy against because their creatures are bigger and the Bant deck can lean back on Cryptic Command to support their turn two/three creatures until they kill you.
It’s also important to realize that casting Volcanic Fallout or Jund Charm a few times aren’t reliable enough to consider “plans,” since Forge[/author]-Tender”]Burrenton [author name="Forge"]Forge[/author]-Tender is so prevalent right now and their creatures can get out of two damage range fairly easily. Battling them with bigger monsters and racing them through the aid of the board sweepers is a plan, but you can’t expect to win a game of Magic with an opening hand of 4 lands, 2 Jund Charm, 1 Volcanic Fallout.
I had that particular hand come up many times post-board in PTQs, so I did a little experiment. I played a ten-game set against a buddy from the shop – three games versus Bant, three versus GW, four versus BW – and picked that exact hand out each time. Half the time I got to use Treetop Village. I beat the Bant deck once and lost every other game. I would draw into a Putrid Leech, Finks, or Ram-Gang a few draws in. They’d have an answer and a Forge-Tender/Sculler, and I’d be sitting back every turn hoping they’d over-extend. He played smart, and I never really had a shot to win the game.
The most important thing about playing in this format is to know the decks around you, and the uniquely important interactions and situations that will come up when you’re playing. The most important combat phase in Standard is turn 3 and 4, since it sets the pace for the rest of the game.
Do you have an answer for Putrid Leech into Ram-Gang? Spectral Procession into Ajani Goldmane? Bitterblossom into countermagic? Kitchen Finks into Bloodbraid Elf? Noble Hierarch into anything?
This Standard format involves so much more attacking and blocking than before, which is surely the cause for Ajani Vengeant and Garruk to lose value in decks. They are completely outclassed by the sea of creatures engaging in combat. I’d actually look to see Colossal Might and Briarhorn make more appearances. Briarhorn in particular is a neat combat trick that can act as bigger Plumeveil on defense while having the clear advantage to take out one of their blockers while not skipping a creature drop on offense. Too bad he doesn’t survive a Ball Lightning… if only Wall of Denial had Flash too.
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Those are my thoughts on Standard since it was Reborn. Feel free to share your thoughts and experiences in the forums. There is a whole lot going on in Magic right now, with even more complexities and shifting trends on the horizon. M10 is going to be a groundbreaking set in terms of what Wizards can do with a core product, and I have a feeling our jaws are going to drop many times over the next few weeks as we grow weak with anticipation.
Think about it… who leads with Duress, Ball Lightning, Lightning Bolt? I foresee silly things happening like Fact or Fiction, Eternal Witness, Faith’s Fetters, Flametongue Kavu, Isochron Scepter, Deranged Hermit, and Morphling being reprinted. I don’t have any insider info, but those are all cards that are extremely powerful that I could see coming back from the past to show this new brazen class how to kick ass.
And the beauty of experimenting with power in M10 is that they can correct their mistakes a year from now, when M11 comes out. Annual core sets makes room for all kinds of crazy reprints that we might have never expected, and creates a ton of design space for Tom LaPille and his flunkies to toy around with.
Thanks for reading…
Kyle